Help What about isolation

[dollofyarn]

Hello people.
Back when I was in my teens, whenever I would struggle a lot I would just isolate the hell out of myself. I wouldn't be in contact with anyone (not that I really had any people to be in contact with) and I just tried to completely disappear of the radar. In all honesty I feel like I kind of miss that. I don't like relying or falling back on people except if these people are people that I'm supposed to fall back on, like therapists and service workers. I've never really had great friends nor a great support system outside of my family (and even my family doesn't get me and my mental health most of the time) so I feel like just closing myself off to everything and trying to nourish myself slightly every day is maybe the best option. I'm also just so exhausted and it's not like I have any energy for being actually social anyways.

 

[thatonegirl]

Honestly, opening up has caused me to lose friends so I lean toward this as well. But for the sake of not literally bottling it up and driving yourself mad, I recommend trying to journal or get the thoughts out anonymously somehow. I used to have a twitter account just for complaining.

 

[timf]

Isolation can be a good short term safety strategy. However, there are ways to engage with others that do not require complete vulnerability. If you enter a shop and say "good morning" to the cashier, and they say, "what is so good about it", you may be able to write it off as a random bad encounter without it causing much distress. This is because you did not open yourself up much to say, "good morning"/

Opening up always risks being hurt. However, you can open yourself up to others to varying degrees such that you lower your overall risk. You are essentially opening yourself up to others over time as you become increasingly certain you won't be harmed. This requires getting good at making accurate assessments of people.